Education Reform Director Mandi Torrez
THINK NEW MEXICO News:
Think New Mexico, the nonpartisan, results-oriented think tank serving New Mexicans, announces that Mandi Torrez is joining the organization as Education Reform Director.
Torrez is New Mexico’s 2020 Teacher of the Year. She has a decade of experience teaching third and fourth grade in the Bernalillo Public Schools, and she was recognized as that district’s 2019 Teacher of the Year.
Torrez holds a BS in Journalism and an MS in Integrated Elementary and Special Education, and before becoming a teacher, she worked at the Farmington Daily Times as News Editor and Copy Editor.
Torrez served as Teacher Liaison at the Public Education Department from 2020-2022, and she has advocated at the state legislature as a New Mexico Senior Policy Fellow at Teach Plus, a policy and leadership training network that empowers teachers to advance equity, opportunity, and student success. Torrez is married to journalist Russell Contreras. They have two daughters who attend Rio Rancho Public Schools.
In her role as Think New Mexico’s Education Reform Director, Torrez will focus full-time on developing and advocating for data-driven state and local education policies that are in the best interests of New Mexico’s public-school students. She will also work to ensure that the voices of students and their families are heard in the policymaking process.
Torrez is leading Think New Mexico’s new initiative to rethink New Mexico’s public schools. This initiative, which includes 30 legislative recommendations organized under ten overarching ideas, includes reforms such as optimizing the school calendar; revamping the state’s colleges of education; upgrading the quality of local school boards; refocusing student assessments on student learning; and shifting toward smaller districts, schools, and class sizes.
The reforms are designed to help meet the state’s legal obligations under the 2018 Yazzie-Martinez court ruling, which found that the state has failed to provide an adequate education for at-risk children as required by the New Mexico constitution. At-risk children comprise nearly three out of four students in New Mexico’s public schools.
“I am honored to have this opportunity to advocate for New Mexico’s children and to make sure that they and their families have a seat at the table in the policymaking process,” Torrez said. “Think New Mexico’s new report would put our state on the right path to ensure that schools and educators are prepared and supported in providing an education that students need and deserve.”
“We are delighted to have Mandi as part of Think New Mexico’s team as we work to tackle the most urgent crisis facing our state: ensuring that every child in New Mexico has access to a high-quality education,” said Executive Director Fred Nathan of Think New Mexico.
For more information, visit Think New Mexico’s website.
